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Did you know that The Voice star Rita Ora was a refugee? Or that the family of artist Lucien Freud moved to London in the 1930s to avoid persecution by the Nazis? They are just two of the personalities highlighted by Traces Project, the first digital timeline to tell the untold history of artists who […]

Hundreds of organisations, community groups and venues holding Refugee Week events have been plotted on a map of the UK for the first time. From the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow all the way down to St Steven’s Church in Devon, the map highlights the range and geographical reach of those who celebrated Refugee Week […]

Refugee Week 2015 will take place on the 15-21 June, just a month after the UK general election. And even in that short interim, the political discourse around the status of refugees, migrants and those seeking asylum may change substantially. Ahead of events planned for all around the UK this summer, Counterpoint Arts hosted their […]

“It is important to keep up the awareness about positive contributions made by asylum seekers and refugees and also about the situations they have come from and the reality of how they live here in UK. We are an area of high deprivation in Wakefield with active right wing groups and we constantly work to […]

Refugee Week Young Ambassador Temor shares his experiences of Refugee Week UK and being a part of the Refugee Week UK Central Team. This year I have attended a number of the Refugee Week events, including the Refugee week conference in February 2014 which was held at Amnesty International UK in Shoreditch. To me Refugee […]

Now a Refugee Week Young Ambassador, Gulwali Passarlay is originally from a small village in eastern Afghanistan. He fled when he was 12 because of the war and due to fears for his safety. His family had close connections with the Taliban through his uncle, a Taliban commander and part of its intelligence service, and in […]

This June Refugee Week explore “the contributions of refugees in our history and heritage”. We commissioned a survey asking people from across the UK to tell us what, in their opinion, the most significant contributions are that refugees have made to the UK. The report provides an overview of the survey findings and includes a […]

The new generation of first-time voters casting their first ballots in 2015 are “Generation Welcome”, with eight out of ten (79%) proud of Britain’s tradition of protecting refugees and three quarters (76%) wanting Britain to keep up its role of offering a safe place for people – especially children – fleeing violence, war and persecution, […]

The political party leaders have shown their support for Refugee Week this year and encourage a greater culture of welcome for refugees in the UK. David Cameron, Prime Minister & Leader of the Conservative Party said: “The UK has a long tradition of providing sanctuary for those fleeing persecution. I am proud that the UK […]

International humanitarian aid organisation Human Relief Foundation have constructed a huge piece of artwork in recognition of Refugee Week 2014. The patchwork is made up of over 1,000 pieces of material drawn on by Syrian refugee children and British children, and depicts their contrasting ideas when asked ‘What is Home?’ It will be unveiled as […]